EVANSVILLE - Though the stat sheet reads 22 turnovers for Wichita State, the game film should show the University of Evansville's best effort this season.

"Probably so," said Aces coach Marty Simmons.

Evansville notched its first victory this season over a ranked opponent on Sunday, upsetting the No. 23 Shockers by a 71-67 score in the teams' Missouri Valley Conference basketball game at the Ford Center.

The Aces (11-6, 4-1 MVC) came out on the right end of 13 ties and 16 lead changes to earn their fourth-straight win, which moved them into second place in the league's standings.

"I think the thing is our respect for Wichita State and the way they do things," Simmons said. "We don't get too caught up in rankings. We're just trying to get better, but Wichita State's a very good program — very good team."

Senior Colt Ryan led the way with 24 points, and Evansville held on late as a six-point lead with 1:06 on the clock nearly vanished.

While the Aces went 5-for-8 from the free throw line, Wichita State had two opportunities to tie or take the lead — a missed layup by senior Malcolm Armstead and a 3-pointer that rimmed out for sophomore Jake White with 8 seconds left.

UE senior Lewis Jones grabbed the rebound on White's miss and hit a foul shot on the other end, cementing the Aces' first win over a ranked foe after previous attempts versus Notre Dame, Butler and Creighton.

Wichita State (15-2, 4-1 MVC) shot 54.3 percent from the field, but its season high 20-plus turnovers resulted in 27 Aces points.

"Twenty-two turnovers is the story for us," said Shockers coach Gregg Marshall. "We've got to do a better job. They're very ratty — a good defensive team."

The Shockers entered on a six-game winning streak despite playing each of those contests without three starters: senior Carl Hall (13.9 points per game), redshirt freshman Ron Baker (7.3) and sophomore Evan Wessel (5.5).

On top of that, Marshall had two players foul out. But the coach, who led Wichita State to the NCAA tournament last season, didn't use injuries as an excuse.

"I thought we had a shot in the air to tie the game, and I'm very proud of the effort and continual fight that they showed," he said.

Armstead's 21 points paced Wichita State, while junior Cleanthony Early added 16 points one game removed from his 39-point performance against Southern Illinois.

The Shockers led by as many as five points themselves at the 10:54 mark of the second half before Evansville answered with an 11-4 run.

After a 3-pointer from freshman D.J. Balentine with 7:20 to play, the Aces never trailed again.

"I think at the beginning of the game we took a few quick shots that weren't really in our offense or the rest of the team isn't really expecting the player to take it," Ryan said. "Later on in the game, we were setting some good down screens, they weren't extending as much and we were able to get some good shots to kind of stop their run.

"That's what you have to do against a good team like Wichita State."

Senior Troy Taylor chipped in with 12 points for Evansville and senior Ned Cox scored 10 in front of an announced crowd of 5,485.

"We couldn't do it without the crowd," Taylor said. "It got to a point where we were down by five, made a couple plays and the crowd got into the game — got loud — and the Wichita players got flustered and turned it over.